Bryan's 1961 Comet

Thinking of selling...

2011-08-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a damn thing on the car since my last post almost a year and a half ago. It's become little more than a weight that drags me down every time I look at it. It's really depressing, considering how much time and money I've already invested. But now that it's a total basket case, it seems highly unlikely that I'll even be able to get what I initially paid for the car. I may have taken yet another running/driving vehicle and turned it into a pile of junkyard parts I'm afraid. :(

A little re-fabrication

2010-04-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you heard about my little mishap over the weekend when I got metal in my eye (I didn't lose any vision, thank god). Well, here's the work I was doing when that happened (click on photos to enlarge). While removing the rear window to replace the window gasket, I decided it would be easier to also tackle this while the window was out: I welded panels in the "pierced" sections of the rear deck so I can mount 2 speakers instead of just the one. The original center speaker hole was also filled in because my amplifier will be mounted directly underneath that. Gotta have sounds in my ride! But I'm also a stickler for making everything appear as original as possible. So I'm using OEM style grills (see pic)
and the original radio is going to have one of those AM/FM/AUX/Stereo conversions. It may cost a bit more, but it'll sound great AND keep the 'old school' appearance (original). Incidentally, that's NOT a rollbar seen in the first photo (I know that's what it looks like). It's actually the sides of the headliner.

Some technical info

2010-03-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

Just finished putting in my new leaf springs. Got 'em from McVeigh's Truck Springs on eBay for $159. The rubber bushings for the shackles also needed replacing. In all honesty, I don't know if they make polyurethane bushings for the 1960-63 Comets (I didn't look). Because it's in my nature to just do everything the hard way, I bought my new ones by size rather than application. It turns out Energy Suspension (part# 5-2102G) polyurethane bushings are a perfect fit (intended for 1968-1993 Dodge trucks). I ordered them from Summit on Friday afternoon and got them Saturday!! And that was with the cheapest S&H. I'm happy.

Cosmichrome

2009-10-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone in South Carolina (or North Carolina) who uses the "Cosmichrome" system or something similar? I'm looking for someone nearby (to save on shipping) who can do my bumpers and possibly the grill too.

Update: (Oct.30th, 2009) I found someone!

Got a new transmission

2009-10-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

Here's another half ass attempt at blogging the work done on this car (not that anybody actually visits here anyways). Last week I got a Borg Warner T5. Found it on Craigslist for $180, down the street from me. I've been collecting the parts to do this for a few months now. Work has been somewhat scarce around here so it's not like I've had a TON of extra money to spend on the car. Would've been better off staying in Massachusetts.

Rear windows

2009-04-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

The side windows were removed about a month ago so I could replace all the weather stripping. Before putting the rear windows back in, I wanted to clean and grease up the regulators. One thing about the back windows (which I never really cared for) was a safety feature that only allowed the windows to roll down about half way (so kids wouldn't climb out?). Anyhow, it was something I was willing to live with. BUT upon removing the regulators I noticed it was nothing more than a "stop" which kept it from going down the rest of the way. CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER VIEW:I thought at the very least I would need to relocate it but it turns out there was already a stop located further down:It seems as though this feature (adding that 2nd stop to keep the window from going all the way down) was an afterthought! I did need to slightly open the ends of the notches for the rollers to allow that extra bit of play. It took just a couple of minutes with my Dremel tool. After greasing the regulators and spraying all the pivot points with AeroKroil, it's amazing how much easier these things roll up and down.

Power Brakes

2009-04-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

This blog was originally supposed document every single thing I did on this car. So much for that I guess. Lots of body work has been done already, plus work has begun on the interior, replacing the old weatherstripping, etc. So it looks like I'll just be posting the "major" stuff here. I added power brakes to the car over the weekend (I'd say that's something major! Even though it only took a couple of hours). The booster/master cylinder is from a 1989-98 Geo Tracker. I'll spare you all the details since this swap is already WELL documented online. Information on this upgrade can be found here: "FordFalcon2000.com" or here: "Falconaut" or just do a Google search. That's how I found out about it. I will however add just a couple of things. The Tracker booster is a little bigger than the Metro's (which is a good thing). The overall length is still the same and THAT'S the main concern when it comes to making it fit. The other thing is the original "fruit jar" master cylinder had one port with 3 lines coming off it via a "T" fitting (2 lines for the front brakes and 1 going to the rear). The Tracker master cylinder has 3 ports. So I used the top one for the brake light switch, the one on the right (next to the mounting stud) goes to the rear brakes and the one on the left has the 2 lines for the front brakes (via a "T" fitting). Hope that makes sense.

Update (well, sort of)

2009-01-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

I see someone is actually following this blog. So I suppose an update is in order. Unfortunately there's not really much to report. My job is landscaping and seeing as it's been soooo cold out, there really hasn't been much work for me (it takes money to fix up an old car!). Hopefully in a few months I'll be doing more work on this car. I'm having a bunch of the chrome replated by Tom Haltmeyer out of Arizona. He's been doing all my chrome parts over the past few years and I wouldn't dream of sending it to anyone else (yeah, he's THAT good). I've also had my eye on some really cool upholstery by Autocraft Interiors. Again, when I actually start doing these things, it will be posted here.

1961 S-22 Comet

2008-10-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

I finally have my first car since moving to South Carolina nearly a year ago! I've always loved the tail fins on the '60-61 Comets. Overall, I think it's just a great body style. I purchased this car on Saturday, October 4, 2008 from Bryan Lawrence of Canton, GA. He put quite a bit of work into this car to make it a reliable daily driver. But I can see from the sales records which were included, that the previous owner (Elizabeth Lloyd from California) spent a lot of money on this car too. The car has been well loved, but rust never sleeps. And money is tight, so this will be a constant work in progress. I'd eventually like to fix her up nice. I've started this blog to document the progress in pictures. Here's some photo's of my '61 the day I picked it up:

The lip underneath the hood was rotted, so this past week my dad welded it up with new sheet metal and got it looking good as new. I wish I'd documented this process, but I didn't. Therefore there aren't any "BEFORE" pictures. I promise from now on, I'll be documenting everything. Anyhow, here's the "after" photo:Yes, there was a small amount of bondo used, but not very much. Trust me, this repair will last a long time. Today I decided to tackle the job of repairing a leaky cowl vent. Anyone who owns a 1960's Mustang, Falcon, or Comet knows about this nightmare. It rains, the water gets on your feet. Not to mention the fact that it will eventually rot out the floor pan. Here's the view from under the dash...not pretty:Here's what I've done so far. I removed the driver's side fender to gain access to the area which needs repairing. Unfortunately it's located directly under the outside cowl. So I must remove a small section with a grinding wheel (CAREFULLY, as this piece will be rewelded after the repairs are made).Removing this piece reveals the mess underneath:

Lovely, isn't it.

I ordered a new flange from http://www.ponypartsplus.com/. It'll probably be here near the end of the week. I have some welding to do before then.